The process for straightening or curling of hair (herein referred to as perming permed or perm), currenty known in the art, involves the use of sulfur based reducing agents to break the keratin disulfide (K--S--S--K) bonds in the hair. The hair is then fixed in the permed state using oxidizing agents such as hydrogen peroxide, to create new K--S--S--K bonds in the hair. A perming composition is typically comprised of both a reducing agent and an oxidizing agent which are applied independently and separately to the hair.
The sulfur containing reducing agents known in the art include thioglycolic acid, salts of thioglycolic acid and other --SH containing materials including organic polymers, silicones and polysiloxanes. These materials all have the odor that is commonly associated with thioglycolic acid due to the presence of the --SH bond in the materials. Modification of the thioglycolic acid by creating a salt or adding the --SH functionality onto a polymer backbone has shown some reduction in odor, however, the odor has not been eliminated. Masking of the odor using fragrances or other materials is also ineffective. A truly odor-free perm composition is not known in the art because current technology known in the art uses compounds which contain the --SH functionality to reduce the hair.
This invention pertains to the use of metal siliconates, which contain no --SH functionality, that are useful as the reducing agents in the perming of hair. The hair is oxidized into the new state (cur ed or straight) using oxidizing agents known in the art, such as hydrogen peroxide. Because there is no --SH functionality employed in the perming process, a truly odor-free hair perming process results.
Several organopolysiloxane compositions are known in the art for use in the perming process. For example, Great Britain Pat. No. 751,992 teaches a method for preparing water-soluble organosilicon compositions. Alkoxysilanes are hydrolyzed by heating them with water until a homogeneous solution is obtained. These water-soluble organosilicon compositions are described as being useful for preventing hair from kinking or Prolonging the life of permanent waves. These materials are not taught as being useful in the introduction of the curls or directly in the perming process.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,782,790 to Hersh et al. teaches a composition for straightening or curling hair. This composition consists of hydrolyzable organosilanes and other optional materials. Aluminum hydroxide is taught as one optional ingredient but only to act as a catalyst for gellation and not to form in-situ metal siliconates. The perms formed by the composition as taught by Hersh et al. are "in-situ" or non-reducing type perms where the organosilanes do not react directly with the hair.
It is an object of this invention to show an odor-free method of perming hair.
It is further an object of this invention whereby the odor-free method of perming hair is achieved by the use of metal siliconates as the reducing agent (K--S--S--K bond breaking agent).